


Patience

by Havokftw



Series: I used to be indecisive, now I'm not sure. [6]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alpha Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Backstory, Bad dates, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Omega Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 08:47:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12055449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Havokftw/pseuds/Havokftw
Summary: Jihoon makes himself suspiciously absent for the next few days, which is worrying - no, that's an understatement. Seungcheol is quietly freaking out.This is Seungcheol's life, pining after emotionally constipated Omegas. If someone had told him a year ago - no, seriously, if someone had told him any of this a year ago he would have laughed.Part 6 of the Jicheol ABO: Jihoon's avoiding Seungcheol after their kiss.Events set after 'Intoxication' and before 'Thirst' in the series.





	Patience

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoonie  
  
**Saturday** 10:15 AM  
Hey Jihoonie. Just checking up on you. Hope you're feeling better after last night? ( ﾟヮﾟ) 

Jihoon hasn’t replied to his last text message and it’s been a solid 48 hours. Seungcheol doesn't press him at first. There may be less rocky ground between them lately, but he still doesn't feel right intruding on the Omega’s personal space and showing up at his dorm to check up on him.  

Double texting is a— _thing_ —people don’t do apparently, but this is Jihoon and Seungcheol wants to make sure he’s okay.

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoonie  
  
**Saturday** 10:15 AM  
Hey Jihoonie. Just checking up on you. Hope you're feeling better after last night? ( ﾟヮﾟ)   
  
**Today** 9:05 AM  
Are you okay dude? Hope your entire weekend wasn't a hangover recovery!

He's waiting an hour before he gets a reply from Jihoon.

 

 

 

 

Jihoonie  
  
**Saturday** 10:15 AM  
Hey Jihoonie. Just checking up on you. Hope you're feeling better after last night? ( ﾟヮﾟ)   
  
**Today** 9:05 AM  
Are you okay dude? Hope your entire weekend wasn't a hangover recovery!  
  
I'm fine, thanks. Just busy ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Oh. Okay then. At least he’s alright.

Seungcheol’s less okay with it a week later, when a group of them are having lunch together and Jihoon isn't talking to him.

Well—that’s not entirely true. Jihoon says five whole words to him when their orders arrive, ‘Please pass the ketchup Seungcheol.’

But that’s it. Seungcheol tries to initiate conversation but he’s met with a dismissive ‘hmm’, a wan smile and a lengthy silence that somebody else has to awkwardly fill.

There's no ire in Jihoon's silence, not like the times Seungcheol’s fought his way through cold shoulders and death glares, but the cloudy numbness is almost worse.

Jihoon even swaps seats with Seungkwan sneakily, so that they’re not seated across from each other anymore. Yeah— _okay_ —Seungcheol had been staring, but he’s _always_ doing that.

When a few of them meet up at the cinema, Seungcheol hopes Jihoon will step up and work with him because he _knows_ they both appreciate a good movie and he needs _somebody_ to back him up when Soonyoung suggests they watch the ‘Point Break’ Remake, which is clearly going to be fucking awful. But it's like Jihoon is barely along for the ride. He just stands quietly in the corner with a bucket of popcorn larger than his head and shrugs.

Seungcheol finally corners the Omega outside the canteen.

It's probably not the best locale for a Serious Discussion, but when Jihoon comes out of the library and angles for the canteen without so much as a grunt to acknowledge Seungcheol waiting by the door, Seungcheol nearly hits the wall.

He takes a calming breath and follows Jihoon before he can change his mind.

"Hey Jihoon," he says, stepping in front of the Omega.

Jihoon looks at him blankly. “Oh—hello Seungcheol.” he says it so calmly that the words feel surreal.

When he steps deliberately around Seungcheol to get to the door, Seungcheol feels almost lost enough to let him go. What's another week of silence?

But with every day that the silence persists, Seungcheol can feel Jihoon slipping further away. He can't stand by and watch it happen, not when he's already come so close to gaining ground with him.

He tries again, reaching forward to open the door for Jihoon. The Omega stiffens, his eyes stormy when Seungcheol steps back and props the door open. “I was just about to grab lunch—do you want to eat together?”

Jihoon gets this terrified look on his face, like Seungcheol has just suggested human sacrifice or something.

“No, I’m busy. I’m just grabbing a sandwich and heading back to the library. I have a group project to work on.” Jihoon says, and Seungcheol’s heart sinks a little.

He manages a small smile and a wave as Jihoon walks past him with a quick, “Seeya around!”

* * *

 

Jihoon makes himself suspiciously absent for the next few days, which is worrying - no, that's an understatement. Seungcheol is quietly freaking out.

At one point he actually wonders - in something of a panic -if Jihoon thinks he’d taken advantage of him during his moment of intoxication the night of Hannie’s party. Then yeah, the avoiding makes sense.

But then again, Jihoon’s not exactly avoiding him _hard_ enough to justify that reason.

He’s avoiding him like he just doesn’t want to be reminded about the night at all, like he doesn’t want to be reminded that they _kissed_. That _Jihoon_ was the one who kissed him. _He_ made it happen, in some way. Possibly in the same way those unrepeatable experiments happen.

So either Jihoon is regretting the whole thing because he was _so_ high it made him act irrationally **or** …. he meant it and is totally chickening out now, because he's decided that he hates feelings and prefers not to have them.

It's depressing that both of those options are equally likely.

This is Seungcheol's life, pining after emotionally constipated Omegas. If someone had told him a year ago - no, seriously, if someone had told him any of this a year ago he would have laughed. Just when he'd kind of accepted the idea that Jihoon was into him. Which - wow, that feeling had lasted a whole entire day.

 

* * *

 

Seungcheol tries to put it out of his mind for a bit, hits the gym more often, goes to the library with Jeonghan to get some work done. 

He has so many assignments due he needs to focus on. But every now and then, he’ll see something that reminds him of Jihoon (Pizza, sandwiches, chocolate pudding, terrible movies, kittens, baby squirrels, a scowl) and he gets extra frustrated and starts just stabbing at the keys on his laptop.

"Have you seen Jihoon today?" Jeonghan asks, eyebrows quizzical, as if that's a perfectly harmless question, that Seungcheol is expected to know the answer to.

Which, ok, he does.

"No, no I have not seen Jihoon today, I did not see Jihoon today, and I didn't see Jihoon yesterday either, or the day before." He answers, in between vicious typing. Laptops are probably not made for this type of punishment.

Jeonghan frowns at him, and Seungcheol can tell that he wasn't expecting the bite, or the wounded sense of abandonment - he's kind of hoping the wounded sense of abandonment isn't coming through to be honest, because that's just embarrassing.

"Did something happen?" Jeonghan seems to be working up to something like concern. Which would be great and everything but Seungcheol isn't sure he wants to admit to any of this yet.

 What the hell is he supposed to say anyway? _'Oh, yeah, Hannie, me and Jihoon kissed at your party—three times. And I know he wasn’t all there, but he admitted to thinking of us together and fingering himself thinking of me and that he likes me, and I was absolutely up for that, but he changed his mind like a day later and then never spoke to me again.'_

Trashy soaps would discard scripts of Seungcheol's life for being too unbelievable.

"No." Seungcheol shakes his head. "Nothing happened, just Jihoon being Jihoon, doing Jihoon things."

Jeonghan’s smile is infuriatingly fond. "Did you guys have a little fight?"

Seungcheol makes a face at him.

It may appear that way—with how studiously Jihoon is avoiding him. But this isn't a fight, even when it feels like one, he knows it isn't.

He just doesn't know exactly what ‘it’ is, even though it’s not the first time Jihoon has—ignored him.

They’ve had moments before where Seungcheol felt like he's accidentally stabbed something important, without meaning to, actions or words going in deep where he never intended, and then splintering on impact.

That's when Jihoon closes off, and it always leaves Seungcheol in this confused, hurt place. One where he worries, where he wishes Jihoon would just  _tell him_ what the hell he did, so he can fix it, or not do it again.

But Jihoon’s not a sharer, he’d sooner pack up and flee the country before he shared what’s going on inside his head. Mostly Jihoon cracks the door on his history just enough for Seungcheol to get some sort of jumbled, confused suggestion that awful crap went on, before the door slams shut again. Usually in Seungcheol’s face, and he’s left standing there trying to fit the pieces together when he's fairly sure that half of them are missing, feeling like crap.

It’s not easy to ignore the possible reasons either, because he’s sure it’s his fault.

He’s _somehow_ reminded Jihoon of something awful about his past—something Jihoon just can't deal with, and he has to crawl off somewhere, probably in his dorm fortress, and scowl at things until he feels normal again.

He probably scowls at pictures of Seungcheol or something stupid like that. And it is stupid, because no matter how uncomfortable Jihoon can look around him—they’ve hung out together. A lot.

And not just with other people around—no. Before Hannie’s party they were regularly gaming together, hitting the arcade, watching movies and grabbing lunch, just the two of them and it was awesome. So Seungcheol doesn't get how Jihoon can be like that one minute, and just  _gone_  the next.

No matter how bad Jihoon is at socialising with Alpha’s, he's perfectly capable of behaving like a real person when he needs to.

So, Seungcheol gets to be angry about that. Because he hasn’t done anything to Jihoon that he should regret, and no matter how crappy Jihoon's previous experiences with Alpha’s have been, Seungcheol shouldn’t get smeared with the same brush.

Jeonghan nudges him with an elbow, “What are you thinking about?”

The question startles Seungcheol—his mind was wandering, apparently farther than he realized. “Nothing.”

“Is it Jihoon?”

“No.”

Jeonghan levels a stare. “Of course you are. I can tell. Your cheeks go all red.”

Seungcheol resists the urge to touch his cheek. “That’s just my face.”

“No, it’s not. Because you also get that—faraway wistful—glazed look in your eye when you think about him. It’s the same look you get when you’re thinking about donuts. And I don’t think you’re thinking about donuts now, so it must be Jihoon. _Unless_ —you’re thinking of Jihoon’s glazed donut hole.”

Seungcheol rubs a hand over his face and groans. “Can you stop. You’re making me hungry.”

“For donuts or for Jihoon’s ass?”

“Both. And I can’t have either because I’m trying to cut carbs and—as you may have noticed, Jihoon’s clearly avoiding me.”

Jeonghan shoots him an oddly sympathetic look. “I wouldn’t worry about it Cheol, you know what he’s like. He’s probably got an assignment due, or he’s in heat or something.”

_Heat?_

That clicks quickly enough, and Seungcheol’s head snaps up in attention. “What?”

“Heat? You know— _heat_.” Jeonghan says, making a crude gesture that explains nothing. “Jisoo had his last month for the first time and—he got pretty skittish. Was pretty shy about it—till I convinced him to let me _help_.”

Seungcheol quirks a brow. “ _Really_?”

“Yup. I don’t mean to brag—but—Jisoo said I was, and I quote—‘excellent’.”

Seungcheol suppresses a snicker. Normally he would just laugh – it's good to puncture Jeonghan's ego every once in a while, let some of the hot air out safely, instead he settles for pointing out: “I thought Omega’s found any cock ‘ _excellent’_ during heat? Don’t their bodies just want—fulfilment?”

“No, that’s not necessarily true. Not all cocks are created equal Seungcheol.” Jeonghan says, like some strange perverted wise man.

“It’s true that during their heat—an Omega’s inhibitions are— _reduced_ , but very few of them are willingly going to spread for the first dick they sight. Their bodies _want_ sex, but they also want security. Somebody they feel safe with, somebody with— _potential_. Subconsciously, they’ll start working down the list of people they know who fit that criteria before they settle for a stranger. Alpha’s are preferable, for the obvious reasons, but there’s a lot of Beta’s out there than can give you a run for your money.”

Seungcheol hesitates. Lets this overload of new information suffuse him.

He remembers a while back, when everyone was hanging out together and drunk off their asses, they’d delved into the subject of how many people they’d slept with.

Jeonghan insisted and a lot of them refused to divulge and finally, Jeonghan conceded that they’d do it in brackets. ‘Under five’ which a few had scoffed at, five to ten, eleven to twenty and so forth. Seungcheol fell in the five to ten range while Jihoon—had remained silent. In Seungcheol’s experience, people often hesitated to answer that kind of question if they fell into one of the following categories:

  1. Had little to no sexual experience
  2. Had far too much fucking sexual experience



He can’t imagine Jihoon falling into the latter category.

He can’t imagine Jihoon jumping into bed with just anyone to satisfy his heats. His precious puddin is probably shy. He probably doesn’t even _know_ what to expect when his heats hit. He probably dreads them, and has a little back up stash of lube and vibrators and…

“I need to learn more about Omega’s sexual physiology!” Seungcheol announces far too loudly at 4pm in the middle of a packed library.

Jeonghan levels him a censorious look. “Will you keep your voice down!” he hisses. He whips his head around before leaning forward to whisper, “There’s a very helpful pamphlet in the medical centre, covers the basics. And if I’m not mistaken—an entire corner of the library on the 3rd floor is dedicated to the topic.”

“Awesome. Thanks.” Seungcheol says, slamming his laptop shut and shoving his books away.

“Seriously? You’re going now?”

“Got nothing better to do. Need to be ready.”

* * *

 

Jihoon hasn’t seen or spoken to Seungcheol in almost a week and he’s perfectly fine with that. It’s given him enough time to catch up on Westworld on his ‘My List’.

This was his plan after all—to get the Alpha’s scent out of his system and clear his head, let the dust settle on that humiliating drunken kiss episode.

And it’s worked!

He’s not thinking about Seungcheol— _at all._ Seungcheol is _not_ on his brain. He hasn’t spared a moment thinking about Seungcheol, or Seungcheol’s arms, or Seungcheol’s smile, or Seungcheol’s ass in jeans or what it could possibly look like out of jeans.

He’s not waiting for Jun to leave the room so he can sniff that one hoodie that still has faint traces of Seungcheol’s scent and mewl over it.

He’s not doing _any_ of those things. You should be proud of him.

Jisoo’s not proud of him. Jisoo’s tutting and shaking his head and making a lot of disapproving noises in his general direction whenever he quietly, subtly— _very obviously_ avoids Seungcheol.

Jisoo knows _something_ happened between him and Seungcheol—he just doesn’t quite know what. He can tell by the conflicted, squinty face Jisoo keeps making when he thinks Jihoon isn't looking. But Jihoon isn’t in any great hurry to spill the beans over his drunk and non-consensual kissing session with Seungcheol.

And Jihoon’s pretty sure by this point that it was non-consensual.

He doesn’t remember much about that night—but he remembers pinning Seungcheol to a bathroom wall, sticking his tongue down his throat, Seungcheol being super fucking surprised and using words like ‘ _Shouldn’t’_ and ‘ _can’t_ and _‘Jihoon you should stop’_.

So, yes, nobody needs to know about _that_. And if Jisoo wants to know so badly, why doesn’t he just ask Seungcheol?

He eventually says as much to Jisoo, who kind of drop the topic after that. Which is a relief, because Jihoon likes it here, and he'd hate to have to move five thousand miles away and change his name. _Again_.

* * *

 

One Saturday night he finds himself out with Seungkwan (okay so he all but pressured Seungkwan into it) at a bar which, to his knowledge, has no specific status orientation in terms of clientele.

Nevertheless, Jihoon finds quite a few Alphas staring at him; this  _is_  Seoul after all and if you’re not in an Alpha’s protective circle or spraying pheromone blocker, people are going to assume you don’t mind being approached.

One guy in particular seems to be making the long slow prowl towards him, hungry gaze on Jihoon.

Jihoon inches closer to Seungkwan, angling his body toward him, watching as the Alpha’s face falls and he turns back. Seungkwan quirks an eyebrow at him, amused.

The second time it happens, Seungkwan takes his wrist and says. “I have no problem playing the jealous boyfriend; just tell me why you’re doing it, hm? Maybe if you give me a good enough reason I won’t have a problem getting torn to pieces when I stand between you and the next Alpha you misleadingly invite.”

Jihoon shakes out of his grasp, the threat now eliminated, and throws back his drink. “Just not up for the bullshit of being hit on tonight.” He says, half an admission.

It’s true, he’s not looking to pull, he just wants to know he has power over these impulses, power that withers and dies whenever Seungcheol’s about.

Seungkwan gives him a knowing look. “That’s funny. Because— _you’re_ the one who wanted to come out tonight, and _you’re_ the one who wanted to come to this new mixed club and surround yourself with Alpha’s, and _you’re_ the one who refused to spray a blocker.”

“So?”

“Has this got to do with your little ‘crush’ on our mutual Alpha ‘friend’, that you’ve been trying real hard to ‘avoid’ all week?” Seungkwan replies with a cheerful smile, because he lives to frustrate Jihoon.

“There were far too many air quotes in that sentence. And no, it doesn’t.” Jihoon can feel himself scowl and takes another long gulp of his drink.

He feels Seungkwan’s shoulders slump against his. “Jihoon, look. All pretence aside; he’s a decent guy. I know you’re really pushing for this new age independent Omega philosophy—but he’s pretty chill as Alpha’s go. He more than tolerates your shit and smiles through a lot of your crap.”

Jihoon doesn’t even bother feigning ignorance. He turns his head to the side and looks at Seungkwan. “You don’t need to sell him to me. Christ, if anything, you need to--” Jihoon cuts himself off with a visible shake to the head.

“I need to what?”

Jihoon’s jaw twitches as he meets Seungkwan’s eyes again. “You need to tell all his faults, his mistakes. You need to tell me why this isn’t a good idea.”

Seungkwan sighs. “Okay—fine I will. But first. You come up with reasons why you like him, why you’d be good together and then I’ll follow it up with a counter argument.”

Jihoon snorts. “That sounds stupid. How exactly is that going to help?”

Seungkwan crosses his arms over his chest and Jihoon knows this will be an all evening thing if he doesn’t just give in now.

“Fine.” Jihoon stays firm for two minutes before starting. “We’ll—he’s friendly. _Too_ friendly.”

“Uh-uh.” Seungkwan tuts. “You’re coming up with reasons why you _like_ him. Leave the counter argument to me.”

“Fine. He’s friendly, charming. He’s nice to me and lets me hang in his circle even though I glare at him. He buys me coffee and saves me my favourite seat in the library. When we study together—he stays on after he’s finished so he can walk me to my dorm. It’s— _sweet_.” To his horror, Jihoon finds himself getting embarrassed.

“Go on.” Seungkwan prompts.

“We have a lot in common. Which—was surprising to find out. But it’s cool that we kinda like the same foods and music and movies. He’s fun to game with too—and he’s patient with me even though I accused him of cheating five times… and threatened to punch him for beating me. And he was _still_ patient when I beat _him_ and then accused _him_ of letting _me_ win.

He also puts a new spin on the whole—‘ _Alphas are big and dumb’_ stereotype—which I’ll admit, I subscribed too for a while—but can you blame me? My whole life I’ve only known one kind of Alpha and then he had to show up blow that image out of the water.

I know what Seungcheol looks like to the rest of the world, and even I initially didn’t expect him to be clever the way he is, or kind, and Seungcheol is honestly the kindest person I’ve ever met, even though it’s hidden under layers of muscle and dorky puns.”

Seungkwan nods slowly. “Okay—interesting—those are some valid points.”

Jihoon waves him into silence once more. “Oh—oh. And also—Seungcheol _listens_ well. He’s like the only person who genuinely makes me feel like what I have to say is—valid?”

“Heyy—I’m a good listener, I’m listening to you now!” Seungkwan says with, eyes going wide in a mockery of affront, but Jihoon continues over him.

“Oh, he can talk for hours, don’t get me wrong, but I like letting him. And I never thought I would enjoy sitting back and just watching Seungcheol be Seungcheol. Who knew just looking at another person being so fucking enthusiastic could be so damn compelling?

But he listens back, too. And not just the bullshit listening some people do, where they can’t wait to jump in with ‘Oh, that happened me, too, and—‘ but actual, honest-to-God listening. And he doesn’t shove his status in my face. Doesn’t make me feel like my status is an issue—that’s pretty cool.”

Seungkwan takes a sip of his drink, wearing his ‘think face’. He finally says “Anything you want to add? Maybe something about his _appearance_ for instance?” The look he gives Jihoon is blatant.

Jihoon shrugs and refuses to meet his eyes.

“You don’t find him physically attractive at all then?”

Jihoon cuts his eyes to Seungkwan, the blatant look replaced with casual inquiry. Jihoon’s known him long enough to know Seungkwan won’t come right out and expose him, but instead will attempt to draw Jihoon out any way he can.

“I guess—he’s somewhat hot.” Jihoon admits with a pout.

Seungkwan gives him a humouring smile. “ _Somewhat_ hot?”

Jihoon shrugs expansively. “Yanno—I’ve heard people comment on his— _eyelashes_ or something. They’re long or whatever.” says Jihoon, and, because he’s not blind, “And his lips are full—which is appealing— _I guess_. And his body is—phenomenal—but that’s just what I’ve heard.” Jihoon tries for casual, his face flushing, mind picturing Seungcheol stretched out naked on a bed. He hopes Seungkwan will chalk it up to the alcohol but he ultimately knows better.

Seungkwan smiles widely. “Okay. That’s good. Very good points Jihoonie.” He says, taking a measured sip of his drink.

“Do you want to hear my counter arguments?” He says after a pointed silence.

Jihoon twitches, because if Seungkwan hasn’t immediately jumped in to mercilessly tease Jihoon for what he just said, it's only because he's brewing something even more infuriating. Jihoon grimly settles in and waits for it.

“Yes.”

“Okay—here it goes.” Seungkwan says, crossing his arms and taking a deep breath. “There are none—stop lying to yourself.”

 _Motherfucker_ , Jihoon thinks, and orders another drink.

 

* * *

 

All Jihoon needs is more time. And—maybe neutral ground with a few familiar faces that he can distract himself with if being around Seungcheol gets too overwhelming.  

If he gets the urge sometimes to pick up his phone and dial a familiar number, that's just a matter of willpower. Hold out until the urge passes or Jun comes back to the dorm to distract him, and maybe that's one more battle won.

It could also be postponing the inevitable.

He’s going to have to see Seungcheol again—because cutting him out is just too fucking hard.

He’s tried putting himself back into his old life, and finds he doesn't fit the way he used to. There’s fun new edges that keep grating against the outline of who he used to be, and it makes him angry, and excited, and it confuses the hell out of him.

* * *

 

Jihoon doesn’t see Seungcheol again until he’s walking to the coffee shop on Thursday. He’s walking down the pavement, just about to push the door open, when the bell on the door jingles and Seungcheol walks out, cradling his own cup of coffee.

“Seungcheol.” Jihoon says, more out of surprise than an attempt to converse. His breath catches right in his throat when Seungcheol’s eyes lock onto him, warm and bright and suddenly too close as the Alpha turns to stare him down.

“Heyy Jihoonie, Sup?”

“Nothing. Just—uhm, grabbing coffee. Really need the caffeine, I stayed up till 4am last night to finish an assignment.” He says.

He wants to say something else, ask Seungcheol how he’s been, ask him if he’ll be coming out this weekend with the rest of the group, but the awkwardness from their first few encounters returns tenfold and Jihoon once again has no idea how to behave.

They hold each other’s eyes for a beat until Seungcheol coughs.

“I’m glad I bumped into you actually. Mingyu and I were browsing through Netflix the other night and you wouldn’t believe what came up on my recommendations,” Seungcheol says. He pauses with attempted meaningfulness. “Freddie vs Jason. Oh man—the reviews were so bad, I may have accidentally bought it.”

“Seriously? You— _accidentally_ bought it?” Jihoon says dryly.

“Yeah, well—“ says Seungcheol, shoulders moving in an uncomfortable shrug. “I couldn’t resist. It—reminded me of you.” He laughs, ducking his head. He looks shy, which is annoying, because Seungcheol never does shy and it only makes him look like a bad parody of Jihoon.

Jihoon worries his bottom lip with his teeth to keep his grin from spreading further. “Huh—yeah.”

They have to step aside to let another patron enter the coffee shop, and just as it’s about to get awkward again Seungcheol looks him in the eye, a direct hit, “So—are you doing anything this weekend?”

Jihoon’s stomach clenches and he looks away quickly. It’s the closest to a ‘when can I see you’ that either of them have gotten in a month. He shrugs. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Cause the guys are going out to that new bar opening—but it’s really not my thing. So—if you want to come over and watch this movie—“ Seungcheol says, with a halting rhythm that throws Jihoon off; sending him spinning straight into nervous-as-hell territory, but when he lifts his head to  _look_  at Seungcheol, there is determination in the Alpha’s eyes.

Suddenly terrified at the thought of them spending an indefinite amount of time together without their other friends as pretence, Jihoon improvises.

“Oh I can’t.” Jihoon hedges. He ignores the jab of guilt and lies right through his teeth to say, “I just remembered, I have a date tomorrow night. I—totally forgot about it.” He says. He curses himself for it one moment later. 

He’s sure Seungcheol can see right through him. No way he bought Jihoon's bullshit story.

And when Seungcheol doesn’t reply for about five million seconds, Jihoon starts to get anxious. When the reply comes, it’s short and flat. “That’s cool.”

Jihoon’s stomach sinks. That was the wrong thing to say. That was _absolutely_ the wrong thing to say.

“Well, guess I’ll see you around.” Seungcheol says with a shrug, mood suddenly lightening as he turns and starts walking away, down the pavement.

Jihoon watches him leave, feeling the dissatisfaction right down to his bones.

He tries to shake it off, tells himself it’s fine, Seungcheol is fine, he isn’t like, hurt or whatever because it’s not like they’re  _dating_.

He resolutely doesn’t think about the fact that he hasn’t hooked up with anyone since he started hanging with Seungcheol, doesn’t think about Seungcheol buying a movie because it reminded him of Jihoon. He doesn’t think about the stony expression on Seungcheol’s face when he lied to him about having a date, to avoid him, _again_.

The next day he phones a guy he met a while back and actually arranges to go on a date to feel less guilty about the lie.

* * *

 

That weekend he finds himself wishing he’d never made the phone call.

This date is bad. Worse than bad.

This date is the worst date Jihoon had been on in his entire life, and that’s including the time he went to an amusement park and got puked on. _Twice_.

Sehun is boring, that much is true. He even has a boring name, although ‘Jihoon’ doesn’t exactly win any ‘cool name of the year’ awards.

Boring name aside, Sehun is completely oblivious to how boring he is.

Jihoon is sure he has to be wearing a look of unwavering discomfort. He’s giving the barest of polite responses, and his poker face is really only any good when playing poker (and even then it isn’t great). He’s not equipped to handle shit dates.

It not that Sehun is a bad guy. Jihoon’s sure he has friends or family somewhere who love him and tolerate his boringness. Jihoon just isn’t into the clean living— _I dehydrate my own fruits and bake my own granola_ —type guy. He’d much rather be the victim of another vomit attack than this ceaseless boredom.

Nevertheless, Sehun is moderately attractive, has reddish-blond hair, is about two inches taller than Jihoon, and has an average body with no real muscle to speak of.

Jihoon’s not sure why Sehun  _isn’t_  built. He keeps bringing up his high school sports achievements and how many times he hits the gym.

They bumped into each other at a Beta/Omega mixer a month ago and exchanged numbers. Jihoon must have been wasted at the time, cause he could have sworn the guy was less boring that day. Then again, that was the day Jihoon woke up dressed like an Oompa Loompa, so drink may have been responsible for adding charm to a charmless guy.

They meet at a restaurant Sehun swears by, and Jihoon has to grit his teeth and bear it as Sehun— _orders for him._

Jihoon warns him about his issues with spicy food—but Sehun insists that spicy isn’t _actually_ that spicy and picks all the dishes with the tiny chills next to them.  Jihoon again, tolerates this because he doesn’t want to seem ungrateful.

The dinner is terrible. He has to wash down the starters with a jug of water his mouth is burning so bad, and the main is some kind of odd meat concoction that Jihoon wants no part of. He chokes it down and tries not to flinch when Sehun strokes his knee.

Clearly Sehun’s ready to move to the next stage of the evening – anything better than listening to him drone on about his bloodline purity and status.

Sehun kisses him in the car, leaning over the gearbox. It’s clumsy, it’s unwelcome, like their mouths just don’t fit together. Jihoon sighs against his lips, feeling no spark, no excitement. Nevertheless, they mess around and he gets hard, mostly thinking about…..

You guessed it— _Seungcheol_.

The way he smells, the warmth of his body, the heat in his gaze. Jihoon finds himself getting pretty wet as Sehun palms him, wishing it was Seungcheol, and he feels horrible when Sehun comments how hot Jihoon is for it tonight.

With his hand resting on the car door and panic rising in his chest, he can't keep up the charade any longer and ends things.

Sehun tries to argue at first, but Jihoon pulls out the old _‘I’m looking for a mate to settle down with,’_ and Sehun goes tense and very still. Right at this moment, Jihoon finds a sort of vicious delight in it.

“Uhh—I don’t think I’m ready for any of that now dude.” Sehun murmurs.

“Ohh—shame. Guess I have to keep looking.” Jihoon laughs.

 _Definitely not_ , Jihoon thinks and loves how predictable guys can be sometimes.

They part on surprisingly good terms and Jihoon’s glad he didn’t have to fess up to the real reasons behind his decision. It was a chicken-shit move, but he figures he’s been brave enough in his childhood that he can afford to be a coward sometimes.

By 8:15pm he’s back in his dorm. He showers the smell of Beta off his body, opens Netflix on the laptop and tries not to replay Seungcheol’s blank (disappointed?) face over in his mind for the 100th time.

By 9.30pm, he decides to message Seungcheol.

This is so stupid. Seungcheol thinks he’s on a date, he shouldn’t even be home by now!

 

* * *

 

Seungcheol has nothing to do on the weekend. He thinks about Jihoon and considers sending a text, something like ‘Enjoy your date’ but he stops himself when he realizes:

  1. He actually hopes Jihoon does not enjoy his date.
  2. It would probably come across really creepy.
  3. If things hadn’t shifted between them he wouldn’t send a text like that.



He decides against it. He decides instead to just stop all this fucking bullshitting around and go out with his friends. He’s going to get drunk, he’s going to have fun and most importantly—he’s going to find a small Omega with soft wavy blonde hair, pretty pink fingers and a scowl—that he’ll fuck though the mattress and he won’t be thinking of Jihoon at all when he does it.

 _Yeah_!

There’s a knock on his bedroom door and Mingyu’s voice telling him to get a move one, they’re leaving in ten minutes.

“Be out in a minute.” Seungcheol replies, pocketing his wallet and giving his reflection a cursory examination in the mirror.

He’s opted for dark wash jeans and a black shirt. It’s his best look, he knows. He could get away with dressing down a little—but he’s on a mission tonight.

“Woah—you look— _hot_.” Mingyu mumbles, clearly second guessing his own outfit at the sight of Seungcheol’s.

“Thanks. I wanna get laid. I wanna get laid _tonight_. And I better get laid tonight or—guess what…“

“We’ll be subjected to your sexual desires?” Vernon says cautiously.

Seungcheol manfully restrains himself from snorting. “Ew—no.” He laughs and Vernon and Mingyu look briefly insulted that he isn’t going to use them as rebounds. “I’ll just be really pissed off. I kinda need this right now.”

Vernon gives him a look that's all sympathy, and Seungcheol doesn't even know what his face looks like. But whatever's there, it makes Mingyu come closer, lay a hand on his shoulder and grip tightly, “Don’t worry Hyung—looking like that, you’re pulling tonight.”              

“Yeah! It’ll be awesome. Just us Alpha’s hanging together again. We haven’t done this in a while.” Vernon cheers.

He’s just pulled his jacket on when his phone buzzes in his pocket. It’s Jihoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoonie  
  
So my date was a bust. Are you still free tonight for that movie?

Seungcheol’s shoulders slump, unsure what to make of the text. Jihoon using him as backup entertainment after a bust date makes his stomach twist into something ugly.

Mingyu hesitates at the front door. “What is it?”

Seungcheol ignores Mingyu’s question and pinches the bridge of his nose.  _Yes_ , he wants to reply. But Jihoon was making it abundantly clear Seungcheol is nothing but a backup plan tonight. And despite his instincts telling him this is exactly what he was angling for, he still has his dignity. He’s still furious that Jihoon was out on a date tonight.

Jihoon probably still reeks of whatever guy he was with, he probably _kissed_ him, probably got touched up by him.  

He stares down at the words for long minutes. His finger hovers over the off button, considering lying to Jihoon later on, telling him his phone unexpectedly died. Instead, he finds himself typing ‘ _sure, come on over’_  and hitting send.

“Cheol? What’s up?” Mingyu asks again.

Seungcheol bites down hard on his lip and then squeezes his phone until it cracks sharply under his fingers, feeling adrenaline and anger searing through him.

Only Jihoon can do this to him.

He straightens, a smile perfectly in place. “Sorry guys, something just came up.”

* * *

 

Seungcheol’s shaken off most of his anger by the time there’s a quiet knock on his door.

Just because he’s getting pissed off and jealous that Jihoon’s dating, doesn’t mean he should be punishing him over it; there’s no reason to add that kind of drama to their tentative friendship. Jihoon’s not his.

He’s resolved himself to have a nice, relaxing, anxiety free movie night when the sight of Jihoon drowning in an oversized sweater, damp curls and flushed cheeks assaults him.

He’s even got sweater paws for fucks sake! Seungcheol shouldn't let his irritation go this easily, but the last of it is already fading, leaving desire and aching fondness in its wake.

How can Seungcheol be angry in the face of sweater paws! He wants to pick Jihoon up and hug the life out of him. He stays still by force of will, but it's a difficult feat.

“Hi.” Jihoon chirps, a plastic bag dangling in one sweater paw, a small yellow box in his other.

Seungcheol—can’t—words—hard—think—help—sweater paws!

Seungcheol finds himself smiling easily. “Hey, come in.”

“Thanks for—“ Jihoon pauses, looking startled, mouth popping open slightly in surprise. He swallows visibly. “You’re really dressed up. Wh—where you going out? Did I ruin your plans?”

Seungcheol spares a glance at his outfit.

Fuck—he forgot to change. He looks like he’s going on a date, not a causal movie night in with a friend. _Try hard much?_  says something mocking in him. He winces, really obviously, and then shrugs to try and cover it up.

“No. I wasn’t.” He’s not sure why he lies.

Jihoon’s brow furrows. “So—do you usually dress like that when you’re just hanging around the apartment watching movies?”

“Yeah. You got a problem with it?” Seungcheol parries, a little self-conscious by now.

“No. No—it’s just weird dude.” Jihoon says, but Seungcheol doesn't miss the fond hint of warmth in his voice. “You look _way_ too put together to just to laze about. This would be a pretty perfect time for sweatpants. Usually I can’t wait to get back to my dorm and take off my pants after a long day of—well— _wearing_ _regular_ _pants_.”

Seungcheol hums, refusing to acknowledge his internal reaction to this statement and definitely refusing the urge to tell Jihoon to ‘make himself at home’ and take off his pants.

“What’s that?” Seungcheol asks instead, gesturing to the box in Jihoon’s hand.

“Oh—uhm—I stopped on the way here and picked up some snacks. I hope you like-“ He flips the lid up on the small box, “Donuts?”

Seungcheol makes a choking noise in the back of his throat and his brain goes to a hundred places it shouldn't, at about seventy miles an hour. “Have you been speaking to Jeonghan?”

Jihoon blinks at him. “Uh—no?” His brow furrows and his mouth purses into a pensive frown as he looks back and forth between the box and Seungcheol. “Do you not like donuts? Cause I brought other snacks if you don’t want my donuts.”

Seungcheol lets out a strangled laugh, amused and aroused all at once. “No. I love your donut. _Donuts_!” He corrects quickly, then sighs. “Just—come inside would you.” Seungcheol ushers and Jihoon follows his lead.

They switch the TV on and flip to the movie, sitting a respectable distance away from each other on the couch as they tuck into their snacks.  

The donuts are soft and doughy, possibly the best donuts Seungcheol has ever had. He watches as Jihoon sucks the glaze off his fingers and tries not to die!

Seungcheol ruthlessly reminds himself that staring breathlessly as Jihoon’s little pink tongue darts out to lap the powdered sugar on his lower like is creepy as fuck under these circumstances. Probably it's creepy anyway, but until Jihoon verifies having actual telepathic skills, Seungcheol will mutinously cling to his filthy, filthy thoughts regarding Jihoon and donuts.

His chest feels full with warm relief, because for the first time in two weeks Jihoon is actually  _here_  with him. They don't talk much, but they exchange several glances every time something ridiculous happens on screen, and the lull in their own conversation feels nothing like the oppressive silence that has been driving Seungcheol mad lately.

Seungcheols chews on the last of his donut and stands up. “I’m thirsty, you wanna drink? I have coke.”

Jihoon’s busy chewing his way through a bag of Revels—and from the look on his face, Seungcheol guesses he’s found the coffee flavoured one. His distress is almost disgustingly cute, and it’s a very good thing Seungcheol is too smart to voice that sentiment.

“Yeah, thanks Cheollie.”

When he returns from the kitchen, Jihoon has kicked off his shoes and nestled back into his seat, knees tucked up against his chest. If Seungcheol’s not mistaken—he’s shifted closer to the middle of the couch too.

When he turns to Seungcheol, he looks embarrassed, but he’s not looking away.

Seungcheol pauses, breathes, and the world comes into a new focus. Jihoon in front of him, just Jihoon, young and scared and working so hard to trust.

Seungcheol has never wanted him more, and there is some serious competition on that topic.

He holds his breath as he takes his seat, handing Jihoon his drink. He leans back into the cushions as he pops his can, and after a sip and a slight hesitation, Seungcheol swings his arm around the back of the couch—around Jihoon’s shoulders.

When Jihoon doesn’t bolt, when Jihoon _leans_ into him, that’s gratifying as anything. The smile on Seungcheol’s face feels like it could light up entire city blocks.

Seungcheol wants to do more - has a list of things, a litany going through his mind whenever he has half a moment to think. But there’s a game to this, the challenge of picking things that will make Jihoon curl into him rather than away, of seeing how many new things Seungcheol can incorporate without Jihoon running.

He can see now Jihoon wants to touch, wants to connect and keep that connection: He knows this not only because Jihoon stuttered over his name and confessed to things when he was high, clutched Seungcheol’s wrists until his fine bony fingers left bruises there. He knows because every time he’s about to give it up and withdraw, Jihoon comes rushing to him with something Seungcheol doesn’t expect: a whispered confidence, an offer to meet up, some brilliant observation that makes Seungcheol smile and revaluate everything he’s been looking at.

And every time Seungcheol sees Jihoon brace himself, pull something out of himself for the briefest few minutes before shutting down again. But when they're alone, Jihoon falls open with a relief that’s tangible, palpable.

 _He doesn’t want to be scared of me, of this—_ Seungcheol thinks, thumb sweeping over Jihoon’s shoulder. Jihoon shivers, obviously holding himself in place.

It’s not much, but it’s a start. He’s ready to be patient and push for a little more of Jihoon each day. He can manage a little uncertainty. It’s only a matter of time.

* * *

 

Jihoon keeps paging down his last-dialled list, then pushing cancel. And five minutes after, there he goes again; it’s completely ridiculous.

He’s already memorized Seungcheol’s place in that list: third, just after Jun and Soonyoung.

Soonyoung’s nearly always first on Jihoon’ last-dialled list, due to the fact that he’s perennially late for class, doesn’t have an alarm clock and needs Jihoon to call him to remind him to show the fuck up to things.

But this is completely beside the point and he knows it: he’s stalling, still staring at Seungcheol’s name. His hand is mildly sweaty—it feels like every one of his senses are on fire and the air con isn’t cooperating.

Jun and his boyfriend Minghao were necking in the corner of the room earlier, until Jihoon glared them apart and they quickly left. But that doesn’t help him now—when the room reeks of Beta Pheromones and he’s grumpy and just needs a drink or ten.

Why is this so bloody distressing? Why can’t he just call Seungcheol and ask him to hang out? He’s been hanging out with Seungcheol a lot recently—he can do this without sweating a bucket. No reason this time should be different all of the sudden.

Jihoon takes a deep breath and hits dial before he can change his mind.

It really, really doesn’t help that Seungcheol answers, “Hoonie, wassup?” almost immediately and Jihoon is scrambling to put words together. 

“Are you busy?” Jihoon hedges. He can always call back later - or, better yet, never.

Why is he calling Seungcheol again?

“No, I’m free…” Seungcheol says. His voice is gentle, expectant.

Jihoon wishes fervently he could  _see_  Seungcheol, who gives away with his face and posture everything his voice keeps hidden.

Jihoon musters his courage to ask, “Would you like to come to,” no, that won’t do, that sounded entirely too stupid and formal, and now there’s a pause, it’s getting long - The difficulty in this question lies in the phrasing, so naturally Jihoon is going to fuck it up, “Go out for a drink with me for a drink?” Jihoon finishes, a little breathless and feeling entirely undignified.

There’s a brief silence on the other side of the line. “Go out for a drink with me for a drink?” Seungcheol says, halfway between a question and a statement, a little amused.

If he starts laughing, Jihoon may have to smash his phone up - yeah, and might as well chuck the rest of his toys out of the pram while he's at it. He really hopes it doesn’t come to that.

Jihoon sighs. “Sorry, I just wanted to hang out. And I know I shot down Jisoo’s attempts at throwing me a birthday party—but everyone was getting on my nerves this week for some reason, and I couldn’t handle the idea of a party. Now I feel like— _kinda_ celebrating. But nothing huge—I just want to get out of here for a bit, if you’re free to meet up?” he finishes with a murmur.

It’s pretty last minute, it’s not even the weekend and Seungcheol probably has shit to do in the morning.

But then Seungcheol says, “I, of course,” stumbling over his tongue like he does when something good happens to him and he doesn’t quite believe it.

A helpless grin spreads over Jihoon’ face - of course Seungcheol wants to hang out with him. Seungcheol _always_ makes time for him. “Awesome. How about I meet you at the club in the city centre, in an hour?”

He can hear the smile in Seungcheol’s voice when he says, “I’ll be there.”

Jihoon plans to head out a little early, so that he has a few minutes to stand in front of the club and find some sense of composure.

Then everything conspires to make him late, from his body suddenly demanding he jerk off,  _now_ , to Soonyoung calling him and suffering a mini-crisis of confidence for the date he’s got tonight.

He knows Soonyoung’s relationship with this Seokmin guy is kind of ridiculously epic, but the amount of flailing panic Soonyoung does over the guy - he's embarrassed for him. He's embarrassed for Seokmin.

Getting this worked up over a guy— _seriously_?

Jihoon tolerates Soonyoung’s insecure bullshit to the best of his ability, until he looks at the clock to realize it’s almost half past and he hasn’t even showered yet. And he really needs to shower cause he’s sweated through five outfits today.

He showers and dresses hastily, and heads out slightly late and still wet behind the ears.

He raises a hand in greeting as he passes a group of classmates leaving his dorm, bolting through the door without initiating conversation and with that—entirely missing how the Alpha standing with them sniffs the air as Jihoon passes.

He makes it to the subway just in time for the next ride out, and grabs a seat.

His lips are dry, throat parched—he’s drank close to a gallon of water this evening but he still can’t shake this…this… _thirst_.

**Author's Note:**

> Annnnd...you can see where Thirst Picks up :)  
> 1) That's probably the last bit of backstory I write for this. Any other backstory might feature in flashbacks or info drops.  
> 2) Sehun isn't based on anyone. I literally just picked a random Korean Name. I think I have mentioned before how bad I am with creativity when it comes to names XD  
> 3) Hope you enjoy reading and feedback appreciated.  
> 4) If you have any ideas on what else you would like to see out of this series, let me know. Always open to suggestions.


End file.
